Tommorrow's gifts
by Emerald Mami
Summary: The Mavericks have found a world where they won't be bothered by the Hunters. What will the Hunters do?


Note: I mention a few people and Mechadrakes. They belong to Red Draco. Read her stuff. And I used a few screen names. If I spelled yours wrong, notify me. It will change.

The children will know and remember this story. Why and how are not important. This could happen in the future of their lives. 

Not likely. 

Elisabeth was to walk that day. She was to walk three miles, and she was to walk them outside. Bad enough the miles. Worse outside. She hiked up and down the hilly forest she lived on. Her eyes caught a flash of something… unatural. Not a green color.

She walked over to the thing, her mind thinking, _my god, I am stupid, what if a hunter shoots me or something?_

Her thoughts also raced back to the day her friend, Jamie, had told her that she was going to conquer the world. "You're either for me or against me," she had told Elisabeth. Elisabeth sighed, knowing Jamie was no longer in school.

"Hello?" she asked softly, hoping the black thing was a tire. She caught full sight of it. Nope.

It appeared to be a human, but the blood was too greasy and the shoes too big, along with the hands. It wore a cap, like a general, and also…

It was Signas. 

"Can you talk to me?" she asked, dropping to one knee.

Signas shook his head. Barely, as if he were clinging onto life. She attempted to drag him across the woods, when she realized that Signas here was going to bleed across the woods. She looked around for a cart or carrier or something.

"Yo!" she called out to a Maverick, chasing after Signas. "Where is… LEO?"

The Maverick stared at her with a small grin on his face, then pointed his gun. "Die, worthless human."

"What? No fruitcake?" Elisabeth remarked, her mind racing. This was all familiar. But why?

"Get one in Hell," the Maverick said, then fired. She barely dogged, as her human reflexes were no match for a Reploid's. She looked around. Nothing. She knew that there was nothing. But… her brother and sister were hiking, too. Who would protect them?

Signas groaned. The Maverick grinned. "Give me the General, and I'll make sure you leave unharmed by me."

Elisabeth continued dragging. She was only a half-mile from home. "I'm not stupid," she replied. "You, my friend would do me no harm. But what about someone else? I will come willingly if I can get this…dude…to shelter. Not like I'm going to live either way."

The Maverick nodded. "I can live with that. We're here to destroy the human race, not Reploids." He helped her carry Signas. "I'm somewhat touched that you want to save him, considering your pathetic technology is embarassing."

"Yeah, well, such is life." They approached her house. "Inside," she said. She carried Signas's upper body, the Maverick carried his shoes. They walked into the guest room, at which she jotted down something, then waited. The Maverick read it out loud.

"Dear family, do not fret. I have gone away, far away, to a land much happier than this. I will meet you again." He laughed. "You got that right."

The walked back, another three miles. 

X watched as the human, bearing no wepons (arms), walked back to the Maverick base with no sign of a struggle. In fact, they chatted pleasantly, as if she did not notice the gun loaded and ready to fire. He wanted to cry out a warning to her, but his party had been ambushed, and he could do nothing, as the two were that close.

"Dang it, kid, do something!"

Elisabeth's ears pricked up at the warning, only for she had been listening for it. She somehow _knew_, if that were the right word, that it was coming, she just didn't know how. 

She knew exactly that the Mavericks were in her world, and ready to kill as many humans as possible. She hoped, with serious doubt, that Jamie had no connection to this whatsoever.

The Maverick told her to halt, and then, they stopped. A videoscreen appeared with a dark face on it. The eyes, Elisabeth knew, were a dead giveaway. It was Sigma. 

"What is that… Human doing here?"

Elisabeth spoke. "A life for a life," she responded. "To save a life, I gave myself up." Another face appeared behind Sigma's, but said nothing, as the two talked.

"I could have said that," the Maverick told her, watching her cold but not heartless eyes. 

"Jamie is talking to him?" she asked. The Maverick jumped. "You knew Jamie?'

"Yes," she replied, motioning him to turn around. Sigma was impatient, listening to their conversation. 

"It hasn't been unruly?" Sigma asked, somewhat amused and angry.

"No. Very obediant. She doesn't show much fear." The Maverick answered. Elisabeth just stood. There was nothing she could do, and her friend needed her, whether Jamie agreed or not. 

"Bring her in." Sigma comanded, and the two walked into the structure. 

"So…" she asked, "You admire Sigma?" she followed behind him, making no sudden moves. Trust was something she wanted to bring, no matter how little of it.

The Maverick nodded. "It is with great pride I serve him. He is my leader, and I will follow him until I die!"

She nodded. "It seems that it is no wonder the Hunters could not destroy you."

The Maverick stopped cold. She answered his questions. "Yes, I know about the Hunters, and the Mavericks and such. I only know a bit of the Fourth and Fifth War, however."

The Maverick continued walking, however much in shock. She followed, until they reached a big, grey door. "This is the prision chamber."

"Cool." The Maverick was not at all amused. 

"Here, you will hopefully suffer a painful death. Enjoy." She followed him obediantly, until they reached a small, barred prision. "We have little humans, so you won't relate very well."

"Yeah, well, I didn't come to take a cruise." She walked in. 

"It surprises me you come of choice."

"The more that lives are saved, the better." She did not sit, but stood until he left. "And that I feel I've done this before."

Krist[Eaaf1] ina awoke to the sound of footsteps. She had taken a flight, and then, they landed in a place, as she called it, to only find that their flight was delayed. So, she slept. 

The footsteps ended at her small hotel room. The Flight was delayed for at least two days, and she stirred. "In here!" A voice said. 

She grabbed the lamp. Three Reploids stumbled in. No, she thought. They can't be Reploids. No way. They weren't real.

"Miss, you must leave," one told her.

"This isn't real," she murmured. "It's only a dream, only a dream… Reploids don't exist."

"Miss, please, we don't have time. The hotel is burning, and within… oh, what the hell," he said, then picked her up, and ran outside with her in his arms. She fell back asleep.

The humans, not that many as most were taken by Mavericks, huddled together in a small police van. Erik set the human girl down softly. An older man howled for his wife and kids.

Zero watched from afar, a part of the crowd but apart. A Hunter, by the name of Denium, came up to him. "Sir, all humans that were alive were resuced. 17 dead, 38 missing…" her voice trailed off. "And Sigma has a new 1rst commander. It appears to be a woman." 

That snapped Zero's attention. "On screen!" he cried. 

Denuim looked around. "Where?" she asked. "I'm only reporting rumors."

Elisabeth woke up in the morning, about six-thirty. She sat and was quite silent, asking for nothing and wanting nothing. She was bored, but stressed her memory for an answer that she did not remember. She was in her dark little world now, but her ears told her footsteps had stopped outside her door. She opened her eyes, only to see Sigma.

"Hello," she said with morning cheerfulness. Though her first night had been way, way too rough, she looked at the torture as an opertunity to lose wieght. What would be better?

Sigma was taken a bit aback, for the same reason. Jamie had said nothing, except "That is my friend" and then, watched. "Are you comfortable?" he asked, hoping for a yes.

She looked around at the small cell, then thought. "No," she said, finally. "But, I guess it might be better than other places."

She had chosen her words carefully, knowing he would use them to twist to what she said. He reconized this. "What do you know of the Hunters?"

She thought again. "I guess, not much. Tell me, Sig-man, are there human hunters?"

Sigma shook his head. "No. There are only obediant Reploids-"

"Acting like dogs," she finished. "No wonder you hate us so."

Sigma was surprised. She was going to be full of those, he figured. "You sympathize well. But that means absolutely nothing to me."

"If it did, I wouldn't expect it too." She closed her eyes. _Happy place, _She thought. _Into my happy place, let me go._

Sigma shrugged and walked off. Damn humans. But this one… was interesting. Anyway, he had more important matters, like Chaos. He barely remembered her. She was fading, not to be remebered. She was going to die. And Sigma would rejoice. 

Jamie had met him on the web, searching for someone. She had been reckless. Not only that, but it would draw attention to herself and not to him. She would be the ringleader, and she wuold be targeted, and she would die. By his hand. He laughed at the thought. 

Kristina awoke in someone's bed, with a girl standing over her. "Hello," the girl said softly. "Do you know what Megaman X is?"

Kristina laughed. "No duh," she replied. "I've beaten all the games. I even write fanfiction."

The girl nodded. "And you've seen Reploids. It's really, really bad. You see, our sister has a few ties with the commander-in-charge, or at least, the one who talks to the media, and she's been captured to save Signas. And, thank God, she suceeded. Now, our lovely little home has been a refugee camp, and we see a lot of famous hunters. Damnit, Elisabeth would know what to do... She'd probably go right up there and ask Zero or X if she could do anything. She was always like that... Sorry, I'm rabling, I gotta go take care of a few more Refs. Bye! I'm Clare!" the girl ran out the door, and Kristina got up.

Opening the door, indeed, the small house was swamped with Humans and Hunters alike. She had glimpses of the leaders, but they usally were small glimpses. She wanted to walk, but felt it best to stay inside the room. She look a good look at the bed, and saw a drawer... a drawer which called her to open it. Inside, nothing was there of great importance to our story. So, let's move on.

She waddled around the house, seeing teary-eyed refugees, Reploids, and equipment. She finally took a step outside, and then-

"Kristina!"

Kristina looked up. Seeing no one, she walked on.

"Kristina!" the voice called again, behind her. A girl, our own Elisabeth, who had escaped her lovely prision cell, had found her. 

"Who are you?"

"Your double. It's up to us to save the world."

Kristina fell over laughing, but the girl was serious. "I know it's crazy, but hear me out-"

She watched as Zero passed them by. "Yo!" she cried. Zero paid no heed. "See? We are nothing, even though I have knowledge of the base..." she said louder. "Zero, you may want to see the techincal readouts, by any chance."

Zero whipped around. "You're bluffing."

"Of course I am," Elisabeth said, rolling her eyes. "Here." She tossed him a disk. "I paid for it in nasty ways. Damn blaster fire." She rubbed her arm. "You can go now," she said. "Shoo."

Zero came to his senses, and left. Kristina watched. "You know a lot."

"I see the future. Now, what do you want to know?"

Kristina thought long and hard. "How are my parents?" she asked. 

Elisabeth thought. "They're fine." She shrugged. "Unlike me. And Jamie. She's gonna get herself killed."

A passing Hunter, Alia, stopped. "You know Jamie?"

Elisabeth looked at her. "Yes, in fact, she helped me escape. She was gonig to... nevermind. She could care less that Sigma will kill her, once she's served her purpose."

Alia sighed. "Stupid humans."

"Stupid, un-emotional robots," Elisabeth agreed. "Until reminded."

"Opps," Alia said, wincing, "Sorry."

Kristina laughed. "Indeed."

Alia walked off. Elisabeth watched. "We have got to back." Kristina felt Elisabeth's forehead. "You _want_ to go back?"

"Very suspicious." Signas appeared. Elisabeth couldn't help herself. 

"It is the day of Megaman X 5. Interesting. Show me more, oh Great Father in Heaven." Signas was not amused. 

"You are annoying."

Elisabeth placed her hands on her hips, mimicking his gruff posture. "No duh, and you're welcome for saving your life." Signas blushed.

A sudden blast caused them to turn them around. "Right on schedule. Excuse me, I have to go flee from my friend whose partner attempts to killeth me." Elisabeth ran to her bike, which had been moved for a hoverbike, and sped down her house stairs outside. It was interesting, as there were steps that connected to the basement, and the made a nasty curve. Furthermore, there was a creek which was eight feet deep, and only six feet from the stairs. Meaning those who went down them risked death. (I'm serious, come over if you don't believe me). 

And so, our heroes pedaled towards most certain death. The stairs were certainly bumpy, but then there was a leap, and they touched the ground- (why, yes, Kristina followed, no duh), and then, they flew off again, and met Mr. Tree.

Mr. Tree was big, Mr. Tree was round, and Mr. Tree was definately not going to move over. So, Elisabeth, in the stupid ways that she was, kept on flying into it. Kristina gulped and prayed to god.

X, lucky him, happened to watch as the two girls rode off to doom. He sheilded his eyes from the big crash- but it did not come. He looked up, to see the tree flicker, and then become soild. Something was amiss. And, like the brillant minded dude he was, ran staight after them.

"Kid? Kid?" Kristina gulped. Elisabeth, or, as she knew her, the girl, had not lept off her bike. And so, she had hit a wall. The hallways were dark, and covered in ice. She shivered. A blue beam appeared before her. In an instant, it turned out to be a blue Reploid. She knew too well who he would be.

"Is she okay?" X asked, leaning over. 

"I'm fine," Elisabeth managed to gasp. "Except for the fact I'm still believing this is all a bad, bad dream."

Kristina helped her up. "What's your name?"

"Elisabeth. You?" Elisabeth limped up to the wall, and held on.

"Kristina." Shivered again. "There's no chance of an exit anywhere, is there?"

Elisabeth laughed. "Yeah, sure, let's go home and explain to our parents why our- oh, sorry, I forgot. They're fine, trust me."

X looked stern. "Let me see your arm," he instructed. She did so, showing him a happy little number. 000000000001. X winced. "How did you escape?"

Elisabeth pointed at the little creatures down the hallway. "My friend is very, very forgiving. Lucky me." She took on a darkened scowl. "Can we just go home?"

X shook his head. "Not a chance. I think..." he looked around. "I think that we're back home," he replied. 

"And for us?" Kristina gasped, realizing that there was actually _ice_ on the walls. She shivered.

"You're stuck in a different dimension." X finished, looking around. "What happened? The Hunters would still be here, I'm sure."

Elisabeth thought. "Then, wouldn't Chaos be able to get us home?"

X looked at her. "Chaos? Who's that?"

Elisabeth blused. "Nevermind." Kristina had read that Chaos had once been able to travel many dimensions, but if she didn't exist... They began walking. The bikes weren't going to be able to do anything on ice.

X thought. "Never heard of her, but we did have a small rookie refugee named Chaos. She was a human, but I think I saw her again... Sorry, my memory's a blur."

Elisabeth shrugged. "That's okay." She looked at the walls. "Is this the Hunter Hedquarters?"

X spun around. "Waitaminute, you know this is the Headquarters?"

"Just a guess, jeez." Elisabeth turned to look at a doorway, with a small button in red. "Hey X, I think-" The ice began to crack, and Kristina got out of it's way, and so did Elisabeth. X went on a different side. The door exploded, knocking the humans a good eight feet, also thanks to the frozen floor.

What came out did not astonish Elisabeth, but it did for X and Kristina. A small, green kitty calmly walked out, followed by Douglas. "Merow," the cat said.

"Thanks," Douglas replied.

The cat turned toward the humans, all of the sudden hissing. It was green, tabby-striped with energy cells, and at the moment, seemed to be saying a warning.

Kristina backed behind Elisabeth. "Okay," she said, her quick whit coming out again. "I'll see if I can tame Kitty over there." Without fear, Elisabeth walked three feet to the cat. X and Douglas were talking in the backround. They stopped, seeing Elisabeth slowly walk towords it.

"Elisabeth, I wouldn't do that if I were you..." X warned. Elisabeth stopped three feet, then held out her hand for the cat to sniff. As it did, a small look apeared over its face, one Kristina couldn't place, and the cat jumped into Elisabeth's arms.

X and Douglas were dumbstuck. "She's never done that before," Douglas commented. X nodded. Kristina, still afraid of the cat, slowly edged her way to the Hunters.

Elisabeth broke the silence. 

"Uhh... us unimportant human-chicks from past-time-world would like to know what the heck is going on," she stated. The cat purred.

"Well," X began, "I guess it started when this guy called 'Techno' wrote a program to travel to a different world." 

Kristina interuppted. "Didn't he die?" she quipped.

A small dark streak spred over X's face. "Yeah, he did. Anyway, Sigma got into it, and deciphered it, and unlocked a Gateway to your world, which has no happy connection to ours."

"Don't be so sure," Elisabeth muttered softly. 

X continued. "And then, naturally, we set out to stop him. But it was hard on our energy and recourses. The gate promtly shut on us, because we had moved too many too quickly. But I had no idea it was the tree!"

Elisabeth hid a small smile. "You kinda think something's wrong when a 50-year-old tree appears overnight, X," she explained. "I figured it couldn't be real."

X blushed. "Yeah, that too."

Kristina looked around. "Why is the base all frozen? And why is that happy red-eye thing looking stright at us?" 

X suddenly blasted, and out of instint the humans doged. The "red-eye thing" shattered and they heard a booming laugh. 

"Vile!" X hissed. 

"Come and get me, X! But you'll have to make it through your happy friends first!"

A huge vibration shook the hallway. It was dark, it was long, it was... huge.

"Computo! Data file!" Computo quickly opened up her hologram projector. It showed Frost Walrus, and he was coming their way.

"Ohmigod," Kristina mumbled. "I always had problems with him."

Elisabeth looked at her. "You _did_? Jeez, he was the first guy I beat, thank you."

X looked at them. "Can it, you two. Douglas! I want you to take the humans out of here!" he commanded. 

"Yes sir!" Douglas began running, the humans following. The green tabby-cat happily followed. 

X gulped and watched as the 10-ton mammal came thundering down the hall. "X!" he crowed. "It's been a long, long time." 

"No duh," X replied, looking up. "This is going to be hell."

Elisabeth ran for her life, though it was not in danger. All of the sudden, The cold was replaced by extreame heat.

"So, D-man," Kristina began, "Why is the freaking base like this? I don't normally suppose this is what it's regularly like."

"No kidding. Actually, we're under attack."

Elisabeth looked back. "No," she said sarcastically. "Could it be that that's the reason we're running from big, huge, 10-ton things that are ticked?"

"Yes, actually."

"Oh." Kristina looked up. "and the happy dragon guy?"

Douglas went pale. "Oh shit. That's supposed to be dead."

Magma Dragoon showed a flash of wings; instantly, he was before them.

"Hey!" Elisabeth shouted. "You're supposed to be dead!"

Magma shot small flames from his mouth. Ignoring Elisabeth, he turned to Douglas. "You should know that the Bosses from the fourth Reploid War are here. And so are others."

"So...." Elisabeth began, "We're pretty much screwed, aren't we?"

Magma nodded, amused, like a cat to prey. "Exactly."

"And you aren't going to let us pass."

"No."

"There's this really, really big thunderbolt behind you...." Elisabeth warned, steping back.

Magma snorted. "I won't fall for that one kid."

Kristina got wide-eyed. "It's staying in the same place! Amazing!" But she too stepped back.

The two were making it up, of course, but Magma felt uneasy and unsure. He was pretty sure, however when Elisabeth yelled, "LOOKOUT!!!" Instintively, he snapped around. 

There was a light bulb. 

The three used this time to run in three directions. Kristina ran through a jungle-like hallway. Knowig she wasn't safe, she pryed open a door and entered as soon as a flame shot her way. She slammed it closed, breathing heavily. Footsteps didn't come her way, so she controled her breathing some. She looked around. The room had four huge tube-things, as she said in her mind, with a desk and a computer console. She could barely make them out, though. It was dark.

She walked closer to it. A voice made her jump.

"Ah, X. It's been a long time." She spun around, trying to locate the voice. Not seeing anyone, she sprinted toward the door as a pinkish-energy-spear came crashing down into the door. She knew who it was. Double. 

She gasped and tried the door again. It slowly moved, then not at all. The fire had melted it together. She was dead.

She ran forward into the darkness, not the smartest thing on her part, as she slammed directly into the guy trying to kill her, and fell down. 

"What are you trying to do, you freak?" Double demanded.

"Damn you," she grunted, getting up.

"Already done," Double's voice said with a hint of uneasyness. Then, his stature seemed to shake it off.

She ran straight into the wall, and coughed. She had bruised something. She felt something grasp the back of her shirt, and lift her up. A small light was given from Double's energy spikes. He growled when he saw her brown-hair streaking down her face.

"Uh..." Kristina serched for the right words to tell an angry Mavierck. "Hi?"

He snarled. "You. Aren't. X." he said simply, the spear dangerously in her face.

"Ummm.... the last time I checked, yeah." She wasn't very level-leaded. She wanted to scream. To hit. To punch. Whatever. 

Double's face could not have showed more fury at that moment. He flung her across the room, and she landed with a sickening thud.

_This is hell,_ she thought. Suddenly, there was a bright light at the end of a tunnel. She could her Elisabeth saying, "Choo! Choo! Get on the railway to the dreams!"

"What dreams?" she asked, looking for the past scene that was not there anymore.

"The ones like what Zero had! Duh! You can't activate them, but they will hide you!"

Kristina woke up. Three seconds had gone by.

"All my planning," Double was saying. "All of it... .Ruined! Ruined by a human child!"

Kristina's eyes had become more acoustomed to the darkness. She saw Double's form, and then she saw an open compartment.

She slowly sneaked across the room, praying to God that she wouldn't be heard. Inch by inch, she made it into the chamber-

and she shut the door.

X slowly walked back to "Happy Hunter Land". He was severly injured, and the bosses hadn't gotten easier. Or prehaps it was the location. They were practically on top of each other. And it didn't help him to look down the hallway and see nothing. He had no subtanks, no nothing, and he despretly wanted to sleep. But he couldn't. The girls were depending on him.

So he carried himself down the hallway. It was burn and scorched, and just plain hot. Great. ­Hyp-_er­-_thermia this time. He looked down the conjuntion. Whoever caused this wasn't in sight. He heard a commotion in one, but then, it was over. Then, he heard a yelp from one- so he walked to it, still slowly, for his enery was almost used up.

There was no sound. Nothing in the hallway, but it was a dead end. He heard flapping wings behind him. Magma Dragoon. Improved.

"Like the wings?" he asked. X closed his eyes. "What do you want?"

Magma looked at him curiously. "Aww, you're in no condition to fight! I'll have to take you to the Maverick base!"

"That's okay, I'll walk."

Magma snorted. "What if I told you I have someone captive? It's....uh... Douglas!" he lied.

X saw through it. "They tricked you!" he exclaimed, almost laughing. "They tricked you, and you couldn't see through it!"

Magma fired a fireblast from rage. After the inferno was done, however, X still stood, weary as ever.

"I'm not...dead?" he asked.

"NO, X!" A voice called. "THIS IS... ... ... ... ... ... GOD. YOU ARE TO RESCUE THE HUMAN CHILDREN, AND DOUGLAS, AND THEN YOU ARE TO WONDER WHY YOU CAN'T FIND ONE! GO! FOR THIS IS YOUR QUEST!"

"What about Magma?" X asked, disbeiving.

"HE WILL...uh ... EXPLODE. BUH-BYE!"

And at that instant, Magma exploded. "No, God!!!" he cried. "No! Why did you do this?"

X slowly walked to the end of the hallway, not seeing the two human figures pull a high five and say, "Yes!" 

Then, one of them turned back into a cat.

"That was good. Man, if it were a fanfic, it'd be so stupid!"

Computo looked at Elisabeth inquizitivly. "That's what I happen to like," she explained. "Come on, you, I know you talk. What's up?"

The cat stared at her again. 

"You are Computo Cat, a high-ranking general, even though you're small, you're powerful, been around a long, long time, enjoy catnip, and seen a lot. Now, I saw you when you were a lowly figure. I watched you grow in my imagination as you gained improvement after improvement. What is wrong?"

The cat meowed, not showing any signs of any intelliengce but the cat-like one. It turned. 

Elisabeth watched, then sighed. "Meow is right. Now, let's see, I think that Split Mushroom is down that hall, so we want to avoide him. Krisina went down that hallway, and more down it seems to be Storm Owl. Manta ray is the way that Douglas and X ran. So, I guess I havta go check on Kristina."

The cat meowed again, and Elisabeth began to walk.

"Wait!" the cat shouted. Elisabeth spun.

"I know. Take the crystal."

"The crystal will use your energy, no doubt, but you did make it so that it will work in your world?"

"Yes," Elisabeth said, nodding. "I hope Chaos makes it. Things aren't excatly, you know, the same. I think Mechadrakes would be in Canada, and then others near their crator, but X was supposed to be in Japan, with his."

Computo nodded. "But then, Chaos is linked as well. While others may have their creations, it depends on how they got here. The Mecadrakes would have asked Chaos seprately, and X and Zero can't come without her. Others may."

"I know. Somehow, I've always known." She did a imitation of Leia and then laughed.

The cat shook her head. "Okay, no more StarWars for you. I want you to take the crystal, use your imagination to come up with something, and then you need to go free people. I'll meet up with you later. And I won't _talk_. Talking is for stupid people."

Elisabeth winked, then put her hands on the crystal shard looking a lot like Iris's.

Chapter.... whatever. It's a chapter.

"The world was dark and scary. Dark and scary. They shot me, and then they tore me apart...."

Zero was sick of listening to feeble-minded humans, who had escaped with their lives from the Camp. The girl had dissapeared, somehow, the one who _knew_.

Knew the base, knew the truth, knew what was going on. She probably knew more than he did, or even Sigma, but that wasn't going to be used unless he could find her! Who was she?

And did he not know?

The door pounded. Double looked up from his fruitless search.

"Yo! Stupidman!" 

He growled. "X?"

"Do I sound like X to you, fool! NO!!!" The door shot in, as if punched. Double saw a spike runing throught the middle. A eagle Reploid stood in front of it. However,

It was pink. Pink. Not purple, not white-ish pink, not red-ish pink, just Pink with a touch of clear. Abusolute Pink. 

The hat was a bird's face, and there were wings on the helmet as well, also on her back. In the front, across her chest was a sort of 8-pointed star.

Light shown through, giving her a dramatic effect. She simply raised her hand, and a spike shot from it, and hit Double.

"Damn!" he muttered, as he checked his energy meter. Two more hits and he was gone. She fired again.

He sliced through one, but another hit. He cursed again. Again, she raised her hand, but Double dashed up to her, and tried to slash her. 

She wasn't there. 

She said no words, but Double could hear her hovering above him. He sliced again, to where she was. He missed.

She was behind him, and another spike hit him. Double exploded.

"Give this message to X:" he commanded. "We will meet again."

She nodded, and then said, "I'm Hawk. And I haunted your dreams."

His face went pale, and then it shot across the room into little pieces. Hawk laughed ruthelessly, then said, "Boy! That's fun!" she walked over to where Kristina had passed out.

"You! Child! Awaken!" she commanded, and then shot a spike to open the chamber. Kristina screamed, and opened her eyes.

"Jeez, kid, i'm not going to hurt you!"

"You just fired at me! Yes, you were going to hurt me!"

Hawk rolled her eyes under her dark visor. "Yes, I _am_ going to hurt you. Once the bloody war is over. Now, don't get offended, okay, but I am British, and I do not want to talk American-ese."

Kristina raised an eyebrow. "American-ese?"

Her accent went from American to British. "Yes, American-ese. Now, let's go find the Commander."

"X?" Kristina asked, getting out of the capsule. 

"Yes, X, or my commander."

"Oh."

"Yes, Oh." Hawk hovered above Kristina, and the two went down the hallway to face Storm Owl.

Next Chapter

Kristina was... scared. She had no idea what was going on, no idea of what was going to happen, and no idea to get home. At this point, most people would be depressed. But not Kristina, no. 

She was beyond depressed. 

"WHAHHHHHHH!!!!" she cried. "I WANNA GO HOME!!!!" 

Hawk instantly turned on her, still flying. "Thanks for giving away our posistion," she muttered. "Next time I'll hit you upside the head. Look, kid, I'm the only chance you've got, allright?"

Kristina sniffed. "It was easier with.. that girl I was with, I think Elizabeth or something. She seemed to bring out the braveness in people."

"I don't think 'Braveness' is a word," Hawk replied, shooting spikes at the Mavericks down the hall. Kristina looked down it. "Hey!" she cried. "There's a Reploid!"

Hawk swivled in mid-air, and saw the tied-up Reploid. "You're right! Follow me, I don't think it's safe."

Kristina followed Hawk down the hall, always looking over her shoulder, close enough to Hawk to hug her. 

Hawk fired three blasts of spikes at the Reploid ,who flinched, but they perfectly hit the ropes, and it was unharmed. Hawk gasped as she saw it was Lifesaver. She tore off the tape on his mouth, and then asked, "Are you alright, sir?"

Lifesaver nodded. "Thanks. Are you new?" he asked, peering at the two. "And why doesn't she have any armor?"

Hawk blushed under her helmet. "She's a human who I happened to pick up. What's going on here? I leave, I come back.... This is not normal."

Lifesaver gave a dark chuckle. "No, duh. Well, half our force goes away... and the Mavericks attack, it's like that. This used to be the Medical unit."

The girls' jaws dropped. It was suffering from overgrowth of plants, cracked, and electric. 

"This isn't Owl's territory anymore," Kristina muttered. "It's Web Spider's."

"You've done your reserch," Lifesaver said, nodding. "Excuse me. I have to go on my own."

"Why don't we come with you? We're serching for X." Hawk explained. 

Lifesaver shrugged. "Fine by me. If you can keep up," He added, nodding at Kristina. 

"I'll stay here."

"And I stay with her." 

The three looked at each other. "Tell you what," Hawk said, breaking the silence, "How about if we stay here, and you go?"

"Nooooooooo? Really?"

"Good." Hawk waved goodbye enthusiastically. "Bye!"

The two continued walking. Finally, they reached the double-doors of Web Spider's stage. "This... Sucks." Hawk said finally. "What the heck is going on?"

"What?" Kristina asked. 

"I thought there was something... Oh, wait." She flung a spike up into the celing., and something fell down. A rare kind of gun.

"I need to thank Chaos one day," she said. "That's for you, kid." 

Kristina picked it up. "But, I thought Chaos wasn't real, and anything she made up would fade with her."

"Oh, yeah, that problem," Hawk answered. "Well, I don't remember much, but let's see... Chaos didn't make that from mystical power or whatever. She made it from scratch. I think it can use any attack, like the X-buster, but it's for Humans.... I guess we'll see. What's in it already?"

Kristina looked. "It has Shot Ice, Flame Wave, Magenet Mine, and Spin Weel."

Hawk whistled. "That's pretty good. Come in with me, the more, the merrier. But don't get caught."

"Easier said than done, considering I can't jump walls."

"Yes, and you aren't robotic. That's specifically an attack ment for Reploids, therefore it won't hurt humans as much. And, I'm going to change a bit."

She placed her hands upon her star, and, her wings on her helmet, no longer straight out, became curved, and her actual wings became much, much more real. Her boots aquired Wings and the ankle, and the star- no change. She grinned, and Kristina grinned back. 

They both entered the doors together. 

Web Spider was stunned to see them. "Go home, kids," he said. "I'll let you pass."

Kristina was about to thank him, and go out the door, when Hawk shouted, "No! Vile's in that room!"

Kristina stopped, then switched the gun to Flame Wave. She fired a blast, and Spider caught on fire, and so did the web he was on. He fell to the ground, where Hawk had provided with a Spike.

"Damn you!" he yelled, and crawled back up.

They didn't see him, but they saw a set of leaves falling down. Kristina shot again, and Hawk provided the Spike. 

Spider yelled again, and made an even bigger web. "Nothing can stop me now!" he yelled.

Hawk shook her head sadly, and Kristina shot another Flame Wave at the web. It caught on fire, and Spider began to explode. Hawk covered Kristina from the flying debris, and when it was over...

"He doesn't think much, does he?" Hawk asked, but the doors opened. 

X walked in with Douglas and Lifesaver.

Kristina managed a wild grin. "Sorry about the mess," she said.

Hawk flew upwards, not saying anything, but then changed her mind. "Hello, Commander X."

"I.." X was speechless. 

"Vile's in the other room," Hawk told them. "Want us to kick his butt too?"

"That's okay," Lifesaver answered for them. "You _both_ tackled a class A Maverick?"

"Class A, Class B... Big difference, bud," Hawk replied. "Kristina did most of the work."

"But you found the gun," Kristina argued.

X was still speechless. "Okay, then, why don't we _all_ go into the happy battle with Vile? Except you," he said, pointing at Kristina. Hawk shook her head. "I go, she goes."

"Funny," Livesaver replied, "Isn't it usally 'She goes, I go'?"

"Yeah, but who really cares?" Hawk answered. Filled with energy, she did a loop in midair. "I enjoy flying."

"Rub it in," Douglas muttered. 

"Build yourself wings," she replied. 

"Can't."

"Can. Believe in yourself!" Hawk's words fell upon deaf ears, as the others, except Kristina, walked into the chamber. "HEY!!" She fluttered down, and the doors shut.

"When we hear X scream or yell in pain, we go in," Hawk said. 

They sat, waiting. Hawk sprang up. "Oh, yeah!" she cried. "I almost forgot!" she went over to the remains of Web Spider. She searched until she found a chip, and tossed the yellow chip to Kristina. 

"Upload this," she told her.

"I don't know how," Kristina replied. 

"Stick it in a slot." Kristina did, and the gun turned yellow, and then it's normal color. 

"That was cool," Kristina said finally. "But why doesn't it change colors like X?"

Hawk thought. "Let's see," she said. Finally, she stated, "So your enemy doesn't know what you're about to do. That way, if shot ice at poor old Web, there, he wouldn't have been able to tell that you had switched to fire. And Vile might think it's a fire gun. Use Web's attack," she hinted. 

There was a yell and a lot of cussing. Kristina ran twords the door, and looked back at Hawk, who was looking at her nails. "No," she said, "That's Vile."

Kristna sunk back into her spot. Then there was another yell, and some sort of bars closing, and another yell, and more happy bars. Kristina paced impatently. "Now?" she asked.

Hawk pressed her ear against the wall. There was another yell, but no bars.

"Now," Hawk agreed. They burst into the room, seeing Vile in his Mech choking the life out of X.

Vile turned, X still in his Mech's Hand. "Who are you?"

Kristina leveled the gun. Hawk again touched the star, and morphed. Now, where there were wings, there were three spikes. The star remained the same.

"We are the poor people with no hope of defeating you," she said. Then, she shot out her hand, and spikes flew out. The Mech was destoyed, and X flew across the room.

But Vile was alive. Kristina shot out the Lighting Web, and Vile was stuck.

Hawk did not come closer, nor Kristina. "What do you want?" Vile asked. 

"Who's talking?" Hawk asked. 

"What? I'm talking. Me, Vile."

"The same Vile who asked for peace?"

"I got better."

Hawk sighed, and then the web broke. Vile leaped at Kristina. Hawk simply raised a hand, as if it were no big deal, shot a spike out of it, destroyed Vile, and sighed with regret.

"Well, that was fun." She said. Douglas and Lifesaver were freed from their prison. 

"Fun?" Kristina echoed. "Fun? You mean you _like _to destroy things?"

"Sometimes, yes," Hawk answered. "Especially if I'm under stress."

Kristina figited a bit, as Hawk was giving her a nasty gaze. "Oh, well, sorry."

"Of war." Hawk grinned a wide grin. "Don't tell me what you thought."

Kristina grinned.

Livesaver coughed. "Sorry to break up your lovefest, but I think human-chick here needs to go home."

"No," Hawk answered sarcastically. "I think that there's another human running wild, too."

X sighed. "In this huge complex? She's toast." 

"Thanks for your bit of optimisim." Hawk looked upward. "That's an interesting celing."

Lifesavor looked up. "It's a celing."

"No, It's look-through glass."

"Ceiling."

"Look through glass."

"Ceiling."

"Whatever."

Our heroes continued thier journey, especially Hawk. She looked at everything, trying to figure out puzzles and sorts, when suddenly, they reached a computer-generated room.

"Peacock," Kristina muttered. "This is boring. Wait for him to appear, then go on again..." Hawk nodded.

X looked strangely at Hawk, but said nothing. He entered. Everyone waited impatiently. Muffled cursing. X.

Hawk, the only "Hunter" of the group, and Kristina, the only one with a cool weapon, rushed in. No one was there.

Hawk stopped, seeming to know the place Peacock was in. Kristina had armed up the gun with Magnet Mine and kept turning around. 

"X isn't here," a voice above them answered, reading their minds. "He's back at the Maverick Base. Home. Earth. Where Reploids will finally-"

"Shut up already," Hawk muttered. Suddenly, Cyber Peacock was behind her and had her in a death-like grip. Kristina held her gun out. "I'll shoot," she said finally.

Hawk closed her eyes, and in a form, much like Peacock, her wings (spikes, whatever), grew extensively and threw Peacock off. However, the helemet also suffered the same damage. Kristina gasped. 

It was Elisabeth.

Chapter -almost-over-not-really.

Lifesavor and Douglas were kept in the dark. Hawk/Elisabeth certinly wouldn't have been allowed to fight if she told. X was taken to the Maverick Base in America, Elisabeth's home. (She refixed the helmet).

They passed a room, and Douglas shuddered. "Cold?" Hawk asked, studing the door. There were small scratches in it, saying, "Chaos- Your #1 pain-in-the-butt." 

"No," Douglas responded. "It's Chaos's room. I remember she was distant and close in a way."

Computo appeared from nowhere. "Open it." she said softly. Douglas gasped. 

"She can _talk?_" he asked incrediously. Computo shot him a nasty look. "Duh."

Hawk opened the room, and saw a grassy green field. Her imagination. What she had dreamed when she was little. Before she lost her power. If she ever had any. 

She slowly realized Chaos knew what was going to happen. And if that was the case-

"Through here!" she called, racing for the edge of the room. 

They all ran swiftly, but Kristina weakened first, and then Computo, being small. Hawk/Elisabeth carried Kristina, Douglas carried Computo, and Lifesavor had stayed behind to try and rescue the other hunters. The base was still under attack. 

Douglas caught up to Hawk. "There's no end," he gasped to her, but Hawk continued running, until there was a bright light. She set Kristina down.

"_From Earth to Sky, Land to Land, let us Pass!" _ She seemed to speak it in (well, technically, they spoke Japanese, but due to the language barrier they all spoke English now... it's whacked up) whatever language they spoke, but in an older language. A first language. The light grew and grew and grew until they were surrounded in it.

"Jamie!" Elisabeth cried. Jamie woke up. "Elisabeth!" Then she spotted the outfit. Her eyes narrowed. "Your with the enemy?"

Elisabeth shook her head. "You will die if this continues," she said, "And I don't want you to die. Your worth more than that."

"I'm worth nothing."

Kristina and Douglas and Computo had waited outside. 

"No one is worth nothing. Not you. Not with your gifts."

Jamie laughed. "Gifts? I program computers and kill people. Wow, that's really going to get me somewhere."

"Your writing, Jamie. You write beautifully."

"Or not."

Elisabeth said nothing. She looked at the ground. "Being known for quotes is a good thing. It says you're a motivational speaker. Think of what you could do. Lives you could save. Others like you in your place- gone. Happier lives."

It was Jamie's turn to say nothing. A rude remark wouldn't shake the feeling. She knew it. It was true. But Elisabeth did not press the matter. She seemed wise, but young. So it ended there. A young wisedom. 

Jamie looked up at her friend in the pink suit. "I'll go," she said quietly. Louder though, she said, "Pink is not your color."

Elisabeth gave a grin. "I'm now a prep. Come to my funeral." Jamie laughed. Nothing had changed. She grasped a crystal Sigma had given to her, and donned a Mech. 

Elisabeth whistled. "Nice. Who needs cars?"

Jamie ran out to the hallway, almost crushing Douglas. "Our side," Elisabeth told her. "And the green kitty, and the human chick running free."

Douglas watched in wonder. "She's the enemy!"

"No, she's the Bitch. Jeez." Hawk rolled her eyes underneath her helemet. "Douglas, find the humans. Even better: Free them. Kristina! Go find X with Jamie. You two will make quite an unstoppable pair. Now, Computo, help Douglas. I'l be on my own. If you hear insane laughter, it'll be me."

They all ran, and Elisabeth knew for once where she had the knowledge. 

She had written it.

Sure she wondered about Canada, or South America, or Japan, but she had no way of knowing. It was beyond her sight. She really wondered about Red Draco, and how she would fare with the Mechadrakes coming real. Would they reconize her? Or Robot Dena, or Crimson Huntress, Bobcat, Graphik Dezine.... anyone. How would they fare?

She shook the thoughts out of her head, knowing she had thought them before. Scary. Suddenly, there was a drop. A drop through the floor. Instead of passing through it, or jumping over it, Elisabeth used the crystal's power to become intangible and pass through the floor. Being an author had some advantages. Not many. She could still die, if she didn't stick to the story. 

There was a small bed, on which a woman was being held, fading. Another was by her, fading too, almost as much.

"Havoc," Elisabeth said, and took off her helmet. She looked how Chaos had been once. Havoc's eyes widened. "You can save her!"

"But not you," she said sadly. "I can give you some power, but it will be up to Clare to restore it..."

Clare seemed to come from benith the shadows. "I'm here. I came when I saw a glimspe of Havoc." The girls, all four, looked at each other, in a sort of Daughter-motherly way. Chaos was too weak, and fading fast. 

Elisabeth pressed her palm against Chaos's forehead. Chaos seemed to shudder, but didn't seem as pale. Her eyes sprang open, and she stared unbelievably. 

"Mother. Creator. God." 

Elisabeth snickered. "No. Bringer. Teller. Not God. I'll get in trouble for a big head."

Chaos smiled. "I can take them all home now," she said. Havoc, being revived in the same manner with Clare, nodded. "We both can, with energy to spare."

Elisabeth shook her head. "No. You two cannot continue with your sides. I know this, you know this. The real X world is no longer open to your hearts and eyes. Govi isn't there anymore. He can't mess with me."

Chaos nodded, and sat up. "Govi shall die," she muttered. Clare smiled. "Elisabeth, how do you know?"

"Never give up childhood," Chaos and Elisabeth said at the same time. Chaos was a bit surprised. "But something changed you. Your power comes from your writing."

"Indeed," Havoc answered. "Is that the only way?"

Elisabeth could not grin. "The elementals knew of a way past this. I could regain power there... but I cannot transfer worlds from this to another. Nor can you come here. You would die a second time. Someone else, not by me, and nor in any connection."

Clare cleared her throat. "I believe there is a world in trouble above us..." 

The three grinned. Immortals with power, a foreseer, a Goth, a blonde chick, X, Zero, Douglas, Computo... Who could stop them?

Jamie had her Mech over Kristina's injured body. Sure, it was only a matter of time, but Jamie had programed the Mech to fling towords the last place of the hit before it exploded. Elisabeth, in her weird uniform, came floating up. "Jamie," she said, acting like a zombie, "Jamie! You are needed... oh wait, sorry, you're needed here."

"Cut it," Jamie said, looking at teh Mech's energy meter. "X is this way. Zero went this way, which is why all the trouble, you know?"

Elisabeth nodded. "There is Chaos and Havoc and my sister running around now. You won't be able to harm them, so don't worry, but I want you to know that. Your Mech can't take much more of this. How sad. Look, Jump out, get the humans to safty, and then run back in and kick butt."

Jamie grinned. "Speaking of Bitches..."

"The bitch is in the house."

Elisabeth flew at an incredible pace. Kristina seemed to be healing, so Jamie and the Mech picked her up and went to the direction of stampeding feetsies.

Chaos slowly studied the contraption X was in. he wasn't dead, but he wasn't awake, and something was eating away his energy...

"The virus," Elisabeth said. "Like in X5. Chaos, I need you to wipe the minds of everyone when you get back."

"The fifth war?"

"That's right. They can't know."

"Oh."

Zero busted in at that moment. "X!" he cried, rushing over.

Chaos said nothing, but looked to Elisabeth. Elisabeth nodded. "I told you, my power is in writing. Nothing more. Nothing less."

"Nothing less, what a load of-" Zero was interupted by Chaos's hands pressed on X's ruby. (the helmet, peoples...). It stopped glowing, and it became more energized the longer Chaos held on. The virus was gone. X awakened. How dramatic. 

"What? Hawk? Elisabeth? Chaos? Zero?"

"Too much?" Elisabeth asked. X nodded. "But how?"

Elisabeth shrugged. "What happens happens. Now, go help the freed humans. I have some Sigma-like buisness to attend to."

"Or not," Zero added for her. "You're going home."

"Or not," she responded. "You can't do anything to change that." Chaos nodded. "And if you threaten her," Chaos added, melodramatically, "You'll be biting off more than what even you can chew, Zero."

Zero said nothing. X did the same. Elisabeth flew off again. 

"Why so... interested?" X asked.

"My creator has reason enough to be an interesting subject. The friend of a mental nutcase. The one who solves problems becuase she writes them up. It is not my job."

Hawk made it to Sigma's happy chamber. She expected black, and she got it, black lighting, black curtains, the works. Sigma knew she was there; she knew the same, and did nothing about it. Finally, she said, "Who will it be Sigma? Who will weaken first for the first move? Me, or you?"

The words matched the blackness perfectly. "You."

"Really? Did you underestimate X the same way?"

"He didn't talk as much as you did."

"Really? Really? Good for him. Say, I know that you want to kill him. Do you know why you exactly want to kill him?"

"He destroyed my empire."

Hawk chuckled humorlessly. _Wow,_ she thought, _I didn't know I could do that._ She shook it off. "It goes back to the days of the original Megaman." She paused. "You, of course, know about those, or does research bug you to the point of exsaustion?"

"Bugs me," Sigma answered, slipping from the darkness like a cat. However, there is no such thing as a 6-foot, 8-inch tall cat, so the comparison ends there. Go cat. 

Hawk responded, "look into it. You'll be surprised." She said nothing more, as Sigma suddenly rushed at her. She moved to the side. Her glasses didn't help her any, she had the suit fix her vision to more than averadge. She would miss that. Definatly. 

Sigma attcked from behind this time. She dogged. X. X would come too late. She knew it, a sickening feeling in her stomach. To give up this life, this life which Govi shoved her in, that she loved? Would she write again the same way?

Sigma got a lucky blow to the knee. It was her bad one, but the sheilding was weak. What had got her saftly through was crumbling. Her vison was blurring. 

She responded by stuffing a spike through his stomach. He wasn't too fond of that, and roared in pain. Then, he whacked her over the head, and she fell down, knowing she wasn't going to lose concuisness, but she was weak. Her neck was almost broken. Almost.

Jamie rushed in at that time, still in teh Mech, which was now smoking from blaster rays and saw cuts.

"Elisabeth!" she yelled, and then rammed Sigma into the wall. Elisabeth wondered what would happen to Jamie. Jamie... would she kill herself? Would she live? 

No. She could not answer that. That was in God's dimension, not hers. Or whatever religion he was. 

Jamie continued pounding Sigma until the Mech exploded. She landed on her feet. Computo rushed in. 

"You cannot kill what knows the truth!" she yelled. Jamie turned in surprise. A talking cat. Her life really was hell. 

Sigma groaned. More would come. His endurance wasn't _that_ good .

X walked in behind her. The three, like a team, began to furiously attack Simga on behalf of the human race, and the other half on their own souls and morals (and Jamie becuase there was nothing better to do). 

Elisabeth smiled. The human race should really thank X. He laid down his life more than once for their freedom. A medal wasn't even worthy enough. Maybe a calm, peaceful island or something. Or just peace. 

Jamie could never live in a life with just peace. It wasn't in her personality. Neither could Elisabeth. It gave her no sense of purpose. She slowly closed her eyes, and saw the face of God.

God didn't really have a face. And it wasn't really the Cristian God, either. He was more of all gods put together, like a jigsaw puzzle. Unity. Peace. He smiled. She smiled back, and saw what was happening. X and Computo were out. Zero was out. Sigma was barely alive. But happy. 

And then Kristina walked in. In. Her. Kristina. Kristina, who was going to end it once and for all. Sigma couldn't sneer, or even face a reaction. Too tired. Kristina simply fired her gun, and watched Sigma explode. Chaos and Havoc entered and began teleporting everyone. 

Clare came in, and watched. "Leave it in Jamie's, Kristina's, and everyone's mind," she said. Then looked at Elisabeth. "She needs the rarest plant of the rare. In her world. I accidently came across this after she wrote it. She can't stay here."

_God?_ Elisabeth asked, slowly morrified.

_Yes, child?_ He asked. His attention, she knew, was not totally fixed on her.

_Will Jamie be okay?_

_ Why not ask about Whitney? Why not Amy?_

_ Jamie needs help, God. Please, give it to her._

God did not respond, but did, in the same way. Finally, she heard the response- _To help her means that you cannot enter this human relm. Heaven, yes, Hell, prehaps, but never this one. No family. No friends. No brother. No sister._

_ It they come to me?_

_ I will be shocked. Now, little one, go into the multiple universes, and see what you can find._

And she did.

Epiloge: Elisabeth did not travel as much as Chaos or Havoc, even though they met often. X and Zero and the rest of the hunters did not remember Chaos, or Havoc, except as a rookie, smart-mouthed hunter and a mean Maverick. Elisabeth often appeared as a friendly ghost, giving advice and a shoulder to cry on. There. Please review. 

My story is done. Remember it well!

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